BEIJING, June 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia and China have agreed to intensify mechanisms for cooperation with Central Asia and increase the potential of regional groups, primarily the Collective Security Cooperation Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

“Russia’s initiative on creating a universal center for countering modern threats and challenges is of paramount significance. We’re grateful to China for supporting our efforts,” the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev said on Friday.

Commenting on Afghanistan’s influence upon regional security, he said, “I’m confident that the military presence of extra-regional forces in Central Asia should be linked with stabilization efforts in Afghanistan.”

“It is not incidental that in the last months terrorists stepped up the actions in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,” Patrushev said.

“We expressed condolences to our Chinese friends over the tragic terrorist attacks in this area,” he said.